in the energy sector, a possible partnership between china's sino-pec group and conoco-phillips, to explore vast reserves of shale gas in southwestern china over the next two years. shares of conoco showed little reaction, off just a fraction. and turning to gold, prices rose modestly on cautious optimism the fiscal cliff may be averted. gold rose a $1 and change to settle at $16.60 an ounce. settle at $1,660 an ounce. for the year, it's up 5%. and finally it was another down day for most of the most actively traded e.t.f.s. the lone gainer was the ishares emerging markets e.t.f. and that's tonight's "market focus." >> susie: one of the keys to a company's success is good leadership. for the past few years dartmouth business professor sydney finklelstein has been tracking the nation's worst c.e.o.'s. tom hudson recently spoke with him, and begins our three-part look at the nation's worst chief executives, and why they made finkelstein's list. >> school of business at dartmouth with us tonight in new york. sydney, nice to see you and welcome. you have four of the worst c.e.o.'s of the year,